Summer Phlox

Phlox paniculata is at its peak right now.  I have plenty of the white: 'David' and other white varieties and seedlings which all seem to be fairly free of mildew.  Then I have planted a few plants of 'Blue Paradise' and 'Nicky'--they both change color somewhat depending of the temperature.  When it's cooler as in the morning, the Blue Paradise is almost blue and the Nicky is a true violet rather than a red-violet.  They last for quite a long period and I feel that if the soil is rich and moist enought with maybe a tiny bit of shade, they don't get so much powdery mildew.

Elderberry

2012 is going to go down as a bad elderberry year-- it looked very promising 2 weeks ago and I netted my very heavily laden plants but this past Monday birds were eating them from indside and outside the nets and most of them had fallen off.  I think it got dry and they mostly fell off before they were quite dead ripe.  I only made 22 quarts off elderberry juice (mixed with blueberry, blackberry, gooseberry, rhubarb and crabapple juice)

August Flowers

I'm still in the middle of picking blackberries in my patch.  We made more than four gallons of jam last night and two pies.  For the first time this year, I am making jam with bought pectin which means I don't have to use as much sugar and I don't need to cook it so long.

The flowers I picked for a bouquet this morning are:

beebalm-  still OK but almost gone by
phlox- it has just come in
yellow coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)
Hydrangea paniculata (Kyushu and Quick Fire)
Nepeta siberica